The seating art is replete with seats that conform comfortably to the passive occupant, and a host of bicycle type seats have been provided to accommodate various modes of cycling or to improve balance and seating orientation on vehicles subject to rapid changes in speed or direction. However such seats known heretofore have not been properly designed to provide optimum anatomical support and comfort for the occupant, nor to provide adequate structure to enable continuous sensing by the occupant of his position on the seat, nor leverage for realigning and balancing himself and the vehicle during operation.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved seat of the above type capable of providing optimum support and comfort for the occupant, even when seated for an extended interval of time, and which provides the above noted improvements and avoids the above noted shortcomings of conventional seats.
Another object is to provide such a seat that is especially suitable for use with a bicycle or pedal type vehicle that conforms to the anatomy of the occupant in such a manner as to permit prolonged pedaling with a minimum of discomfort and fatigue.
Another object is to provide such a seat having a major rump supporting portion dimensioned to extend laterally in opposite directions beyond the rump of the occupant, and to extend rearwardly beyond the spine and posterior portions of the rump, and which terminates forwardly in a pair of complexly curved buttock front support lips extending laterally to the corresponding lateral forward edges of the aforesaid major rump supporting portion from opposite sides respectively of a central or sagittal portion of the seat arranged to underlie the perineum.
The major portion of the seat is slightly dished symmetrically with respect to the sagittal or mesial plane to conform to the contour of the seated rump and to support the perineum above or in light contact with the sagittal portion. The latter has a cantilevered extension forward of the perineum and defined by a generally horizontal top surface and a pair of vertical thigh orientating sides parallel to and spaced by the sagittal plane.
Each front support lip has a lateral extent between inner and outer ends that merge respectively with the sagittal portion adjacent the rearmost end of the associated adjacent thigh orientating side and the lateral forward edge of said major portion. Each lip also comprises a compound curve that curves forwardly and downwardly throughout its lateral extent, rearwardly from both its inner and outer ends, and also downwardly from both its inner and outer ends, such that the midregion of the rearward curvature measured along that curvature is rearward of both the inner and outer ends. Each front support lip also conforms throughout its lateral extent to the overlying physiological fold of the occupant between the posterior upper portion of the thigh and buttock.
By virtue of the structure described, an occupant of the seat may readily orientate himself thereon by sensing the engagement between his thighs and the forward extension of the sagittal portion when the thighs are extending forwardly and downwardly from the buttock forward support lips. In this latter regard, the parallel sides of the forward extension are an important concept, as compared to the typical forwardly converging or pointed forward end of a bicycle seat. They increase the pressure against the thigh with a minimum of mesial thigh movement when the occupant is not properly seated and also afford maximum leverage against the thigh when the latter is purposefully pressed against the adjacent side of the forward extension in an effort to return a dislodged occupant to a balanced position on the seat.
The major seat portion comfortably provides the primary support for the weight of the occupant and the complexly curved front support lips provide uninterrupted support for the forward portions of the buttocks along the physiological fold. In the seated position, the perineum is elevated above or at most lightly supported on the sagittal portion, and the thighs are positioned forwardly and downwardly whether at rest or in motion during pedaling, thereby to provide optimum comfort for the seated occupant with a minimum of seat top interference with the thighs during pedaling.